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Montour School District implementing positivity in each classroom through new program

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — Inside a second grade classroom at Montour Elementary School, students are back to work.

“For us, we are dealing with some mental health issues from the pandemic and just dealing from life,” said Jason Shoaf, principal of Montour Elementary School.

Coming out of the pandemic and returning to normalcy in the midst of conversations about safety, Montour is taking a different approach to focus on that mental stability.

It starts with a book called “The Energy Bus.”

“That energy bus is really getting kids to have a passion for school again, be able to want to come here because some of our kids haven’t been here for two years,” Shoaf said.

Every staff member read the book over the summer and now is incorporating the principles centered around positivity in each classroom.

“This gives students the opportunity to see there are adults here they can trust. There’s a warm and welcoming community here that they can lean on when they need it, and then be there for others, because we all need a community to hold onto,” said teacher Natalie Rowe.

While kids in the elementary school will get to read the children’s book version and have small group activities, the high school students will focus on a message each month to make sure every student is involved, and for teachers to know when someone may need extra support.

“The more we can provide for them as far as a safe environment that’s welcoming and positive that focuses on community, the better,” Rowe said.

Tuesday was the kickoff for teachers to start the program and already they are seeing dozens of students wanting to get involved.

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